Most of these accomplishments have been achieved in the last two thousand years - or, 100 generations of humans. And in each of these generations, multiple prodigies were born who were capable of transforming a simple piece of metal into an airplane, a string instrument into a timeless concerto, and a mere plug into an electrical pacemaker capable of sustaining life when a heart is too weak to carry on.
We spend so much time for ourselves: mastering a new ethnic dish to taste, perusing the internet to curiously inspect the lives of our peers, or even catching up with an acquaintance over a drink. Yet if we spend a fraction of that time on someone in need, we may just be able to discover the next prodigy.
The world's second most populous nation, India, boasts approximately 1.2 billion citizens (the equivalent of 17.3% of the world's population). Unfortunately, out of those individuals, only 66% are literate. Imagine not being able to read; you would have no access to the wealth of knowledge that novels, newspapers, textbooks, magazines, and the internet can provide. Imagine that everything you know has been handed down or experienced first-hand. Now imagine, you are severely limited by the knowledge you can obtain from others. Illiteracy is an epidemic; often entire communities are afflicted and are left without sufficient resources or access to information. Where do you go about even beginning to understand the complexities of the world beyond your doorstep, or even the simplicities? How can you feel motivated to create goals? The inspiration to do anything other than survive and conduct your life accordingly diminishes.
I feel heart-broken when I think of the countless and often forgotten lives that are severely limited by a lack of education. With the black cloud of poverty comes setbacks and tragedies. The worst tragedy arises from a dearth of knowledge: a reason to live. We all are able to list reasons why we want to live: multiple people, places, things, ideas that make our world spin. But how limited, in scope and insight, is the will to live for those who have not even begun to scratch the surface of this incredible planet?
This post was sparked by a heartwarming TED video I recently viewed:
I urge you to watch this video and feel inspired to grant at least one more person the capacity to make their own list of "things that are awesome".
Have a wonderful week,